


There is time, so much time

by kalika_999



Series: Stucky AU One Shots [10]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Angst, Character Death, Last words, M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-29
Updated: 2019-06-29
Packaged: 2020-05-29 15:30:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19403188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kalika_999/pseuds/kalika_999
Summary: You can't help who you fall in love with and it's why Sam doesn't really bother with soulmates.





	There is time, so much time

**Author's Note:**

  * For [outruntheavalanche](https://archiveofourown.org/users/outruntheavalanche/gifts).



> I tried out inverted tropes for treat #2 and decided to do a Last Words au but played around with it a little. Hope you like! :)

Soulmates weren’t always a strictly romantic match, they could be a platonic one.   


It was the sole reason that when he figured out Riley wasn’t his soulmate at the same time Riley did (from the years of detailed history of feeling it when near, the sensation, a sense that could be construed for something else, they just _knew_.). It didn’t really stop them from still dating and becoming the most important person in each other’s lives.   


They knew it before even coming to that outlook and they just got along so well and had that intense chemistry together, it ended up never being a big deal for them. It was decided those simple last words weren’t going to get in the way of their future.

It sure felt worse though, when they were forced apart.

What they already knew was confirmed when Riley died in his arms, there was no way he should have even been alive as he stared up at him and managed a shaky smile after falling out of the sky.

_I love you._ Were the last words from his lips. It wasn’t what was written on Sam’s wrist in a moody uneven scrawl. He was relieved about it, since the way the lines on his skin were made out to sound like his soulmate wasn’t the one he was destined to belong with anyway. He knew he had made the right choice and followed his heart.  


He held Riley’s body for hours, nothing had mattered anymore in the world and there was no sign anyone even cared when he went down. No one came and it was better that way so he could mourn. Sam wiped at tears as he cradled his body, his mind absently staring at the last words on Riley’s wrist, no sign of who they were even for. He drew him even closer to his chest, breaking down all over again.

*****

When he meets Bucky, things seem different. That’s when Sam realizes he’s his soulmate and to make matters worse, Bucky seems to already know that, which makes him unsure on how to take it. (Barnes refuses to uncover his wrist and reveal what his says, doesn’t even let Steve see what it is.)

It’s even more perplexing when Bucky seems more inclined to act like he doesn’t exist, he’s morose and quiet, _lurks_ and shifts uneasily at times. They barely share two words between them and it seems like an ill fit for fate to address them as a pair for anything.

He wonders if Bucky even feels the same thing he does, that connection and pull, wants to ask but can’t and so he doesn’t. Lets time take over.  


He realizes the connection will never be mutual, not romantic at least. They become better allies and that’s enough.

*****

Bucky’s skin is going a sickly color, cold to the touch as he tries to give him some level of futile comfort. He’s just breathing too shallow, too erratic and his grey blue eyes are wild as he looks up at him. He grips hard at his arm, it hurts as he pulls him closer, whispers something between clenched teeth with bruised lips and trembling voice. Once the last word tumbles out, he’s gone and Sam is left lost once more.  


*****

Steve stares helplessly at absolutely nothing when his heart skips a beat.   


A sharp pain digs into his skin and with a shaky hand he tears away at his glove, the uneven scrawl throbs as the words breathe and darken, his fingers delicately tracing them despite how blistering hot it feels. It’s callous that they begin to slowly break down; each letter, each swoop and curve he’s grown to love since they were kids, the words turn into a fine dust and the wind collects them away before he can even react.

His eyes are already red and bloodshot before he realizes, staring up at the overcast sky. He squeezes them tight like he does with his fists before his knees give out and his shield falls next to him in a loud obnoxious clatter. Tears slip past long lashes and he’s lost him again, knows this time around he’s not getting him back.

*****

Sam feels Steve's hand on his shoulder, grip so tight it’s painful, fingers made to bruise. As he looks up to him with concerned eyes, the words he wants to say get stuck firm in the back of his throat. It doesn’t much matter when he does recover them, helplessly watching as Steve makes no effort to listen, only silently lets him take Bucky's limp body out of his arms.

The words that once sat, quick and hurried, across Bucky's wrist are gone just as soon as he was, but he still remembers them.

_ I know we talked about this, Buck. But- just be careful. Every time we’re called out, those words on Sam’s wrist haunt me over and over again. _

*****

Sam knows there isn’t any other soulmate for him, not that he’s actively looking. Between he and Steve, they had one and now he should live his life and try to be happy. Riley would have wanted that. He can help others with his experiences and be someone to lean on, keep his head held high and maybe have his heart a little protected from wanting anyone to come inside so in private he can settle in on the good memories from before.

Losing the love of your life and then your soulmate are two hard losses no matter who he was to Barnes, at least a friend, and their connection was enough. It’s two tragedies that no one should endure, and a third is watching _their_ soulmate suffer in quiet agony.

When there are times of weakness, it’s Bucky's last words that remind him it’s better to carry on and keep remembering the good they had for so long.   


_ Tell him Sam, tell him m’sorry I couldn’t stick around, that I’ll always love him. It’s always been just him I’ve had my eye on, even when we were kids. Make sure he knows. _

It helps Steve too.


End file.
